Christianity at its best embodies this provocative idea and has long been committed to preserving, expanding and sharing truth. Most of the great universities of the world were founded by Christians committed to the truth—in all its forms—and to training new generations to carry it forward.

When science began in the 17th century, Christians eagerly applied the new knowledge to alleviate suffering and improve living conditions.

But when it comes to the truth of evolution, many Christians feel compelled to look the other way. They hold on to a particular interpretation of an ancient story in Genesis that they have fashioned into a modern account of origins - a story that began as an oral tradition for a wandering tribe of Jews thousands of years ago.

This is the view on display in a $27 million dollar Creation Museum in Kentucky. It inspired the Institute for Creation Research, which purports to offer scientific support for creationism.

While Genesis contains wonderful insights into the relationship between God and the creation, it simply does not contain scientific ideas about the origin of the universe, the age of the earth or the development of life.

For more than two centuries, careful scientific research, much of it done by Christians, has demonstrated clearly that the earth is billions years old, not mere thousands, as many creationists argue. We now know that the human race began millions of years ago in Africa - not thousands of years ago in the Middle East, as the story in Genesis suggests.

And all life forms are related to each other though evolution. These are important truths that science has discovered through careful research. They are not “opinions” that can be set aside if you don’t like them.

Anyone who values truth must take these ideas seriously, for they have been established as true beyond any reasonable doubt.

There is much evidence for evolution. The most compelling comes from the study of genes, especially now that the Human Genome Project has been completed and the genomes of many other species being constantly mapped.

In particular, humans share an unfortunate “broken gene” with many other primates, including chimpanzees, orangutans, and macaques. This gene, which works fine in most mammals, enables the production of Vitamin C. Species with broken versions of the gene can’t make Vitamin C and must get it from foods like oranges and lemons.

Thousands of hapless sailors died painful deaths scurvy during the age of exploration because their “Vitamin C” gene was broken.

How can different species have identical broken genes? The only reasonable explanation is that they inherited it from a common ancestor.

Not surprisingly, evolution since the time of Darwin has claimed that humans, orangutans, chimpanzees, and macaques evolved recently from a common ancestor. The new evidence from genetics corroborates this.

Such evidence proves common ancestry with a level of certainty comparable to the evidence that the earth goes around the sun.

This is but one of many, many evidences that support the truth of evolution - that make it a “sacred fact” that Christians must embrace in the name of truth. And they should embrace this truth with enthusiasm, for this is the world that God created.

Christians must come to welcome - rather than fear - the ideas of evolution. Truths about Nature are sacred, for they speak of our Creator. Such truths constitute “God’s second book” for Christians to read alongside the Bible.

In the 17th century, Galileo used the metaphor of the “two books” to help Christians of his generation understand the sacred truth that the earth moves about the sun. “The Bible,” he liked to say, “tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens ago.”

To understand how the heavens go we must read the book of Nature, not the Bible.

The Book of nature reveals the truth that God created the world through gradual processes over billions of years, rather than over the course of six days, as many creationists believe.

Evolution does not contradict the Bible unless you force an unreasonable interpretation on that ancient book.

To suppose, as the so-called young earth creationists do, that God dictated modern scientific ideas to ancient and uncomprehending scribes is to distort the biblical message beyond recognition. Modern science was not in the worldview of the biblical authors and it is not in the Bible.

Science is not a sinister enterprise aimed at destroying faith. It’s an honest exploration of the wonderful world that God created.

We are often asked to think about what Jesus would do, if he lived among us today. Who would Jesus vote for? What car would he drive?

To these questions we should add “What would Jesus believe about origins?”

And the answer? Jesus would believe evolution, of course. He cares for the Truth.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Karl W. Giberson.

soundoff(3,562 Responses)

Hurley

Any intelligent, self-thinking human being presented with the convincing case of evolution over the creation myth of the Bible (just one among hundreds if not thousands of creation myths), would choose evolution to believe in. However, whaa?!? Would Jesus believe in evolution? Presumably Jesus would know exactly how we got here and wouldn't have to 'believe' anything. This seems like a pretty dumb and pointless question.

April 10, 2011 at 10:05 am |

PRISM 1234

It takes an utter FOOL to believe idiotic theories, floating around in the world of egoistic, self-proclaimed "intellectualists", who think they've got it all figured out, while not even having the surface scratched! Because of their over-inflated egos, which have impaired their abilities to reason, and also blinded their sight, they can not see further from their own noses.
Because if they could see , they would take notice that all the Creation, with all it's complexities and wonders, being designed so perfectly with laws that are so precise, that a slight alteration of them would result in chaos; and that all this could never have come into existence without an Intelligent Designer, to put it in such order! ! !

That should pretty much explain who is really delusional, shortsighted, and just plainly stupid!

If I was one of those fools, I would be embarrassed to let anyone to know what I believed !
It's OK, you all can believe that your ancestors evolved from amoebas, frogs, lizards and apes.... LOL ! ! !......Maybe yours did, but NOT MINE........ LOL! ! !

April 10, 2011 at 2:05 pm |

albert

If Evolution is from God, then why would he not mention it in the Bible? Would a loving God hold back such critical and important information?

Why has evolution apparently stopped? Science likes to think in terms of millions of years. It's easy to hide behind such a large number.

The "truth" is, science has itself become a religion. It has it's share of false prophets. It is decided in what they believe. And many of its beliefs are flawed. Many take science at face value. If science says it, it must be true. Yes, the Science Gods have their share of blind sheep.

April 10, 2011 at 10:05 am |

christchild

actually the bible does mention evolution in genesis. "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds....." Genesis 1:24" This is an example of evolution we see today that there is variation of species among different organisms which is also supported scientifically.

April 10, 2011 at 10:07 am |

JPC

"Why has evolution apparently stopped? "

It hasn't. Perhaps you were unaware that it was still going on.

For more information, google "Lenski experiment" and "observed instances of speciation," which should give you plenty of reading about evolution taking place right before our eyes, in historical times and even to this day.

April 10, 2011 at 10:14 am |

albert

That scripture does not support evolution. You are simply playing with words. The next scripture Gen. 1:25 makes clear that God created the animals basically on the spot as opposed to them evolving. How would you explain the human creation? God was able to speak to them immediately? Would he have been able to speak to and reason with an ape?

April 10, 2011 at 10:20 am |

albert

JPC,
Lenski experiment" and "observed instances of speciation,", is flawed. Their is absolutely nothing happening today that remotely resembles the theory of evolution. You should not confuse variety with evolution. The simplest example is the Dog. you can mix and match different breeds and come up with a different variety of dog, but it is still just a dog.

It is true that we share some of the same DNA as animals, but why is it that we cannot reproduce with other animals? If there is an evolutionary link, this should be possible, but it is not. If you were to take human sperm and attempt artificial insemination on any other animal on the face of the planet, no creation would happen. Why is that? At the very least, if the theory of evolution is true, it should work on primates or even fish. That is one huge gap/flaw in the evolution theory.

April 10, 2011 at 10:31 am |

Sean

Scriptures were written by man. Not god.

April 10, 2011 at 10:31 am |

christchild

Albert: basically im saying that we were created with the ability to evolve. I believe that God created the animals of the earth (including humans) with the ability to adapt and change to their environment facilitating evolution. Now I do dont think that we derived from apes, but humans have gone through variation in our species over time (as we can obviously see today) whos to say that adam and eve could of had a different shape and size skull (which would explain why they stupidly ate the fruit :P) which correlates with some of the findings of early human fossils

April 10, 2011 at 10:36 am |

christchild

however regardless of what a person thinks of evolution, it is just a theory to try to understand the natural world around us. Believing in christianity is more faith based but by looking at what i observe and discovered, how can there not be a God

April 10, 2011 at 10:41 am |

PRISM 1234

Well said!

April 10, 2011 at 10:45 am |

PRISM 1234

P.S. "Well said" was meant for Albert

April 10, 2011 at 10:51 am |

Andromeda

Why has evolution apparently stopped? What makes you think it has? People have consistently been living longer and longer lives. People in general have changed over the last few generations in other ways as well. What makes you think that isn't part of an evolutionary process? Change is change. Evolution doesn't necessarily mean a natural process of change. Who's to say what all the changes we make environmentally, and technologically will do to future generations of humans and animals.

April 10, 2011 at 8:52 pm |

Rob

Straddling the fence, aren't you? Just ask Sarah Palin and she'll tell you dinosaurs walked the Earth 5000 years ago. I want to know why we all don't pray to Zeus??? Oh yeah, the REAL GOD came along. Myths are myths folks. If it makes you feel better fine, but don't mix your myths with real science. Like it or not, they are mutually exclusive.

April 10, 2011 at 10:04 am |

TV_Preacher

Christianity cannot not survive much more of itself. It was fine when Christianity controlled politics. No one could deny creationism in public without being drawn and quartered, burned at the stake, or worse; forced to go to church and confess the sin of thinking.

Today, Christianity has become a regular political Tea Party that serves the interests of some of the most notorious global thieving corporations that ever polluted our planet. And in that service, they are as ignorantly loyal to Wall Street as they ever were to God. The poor, the sick, the elderly, the suffering have all taken a back seat to money and power. They elect leaders who will start multiple wars at the drop of a hat and then watch only news that will never tell them how many innocent people they were responsible for injuring, maiming, torturing and killing. And they do all of this in the name of Jesus, as if daring God to do anything about it.

Fortunately, for the Tea Party leadership and the global predator corporations they serve, there are abundant numbers of uneducated, mean spirited paranoids who are terrorized by the world as it is and ripe for the protection their leaders say God will provide them, if they just suspend all thought and go along with whatever their leaders tell them. If the Tea Party Christian leaders tell them Jesus saddled up a T-Rex and rode it to Jerusalem, they will believe it without question. And that is exactly the kind if ignorant, fear-based loyalty the Tea Party needs too keep spreading its evil to America and the world.

Jesus said that is exactly what His followers would eventually do; betray everything He taught and try to make a false God out of Him.

April 10, 2011 at 10:04 am |

TV_Preacher

Christianity cannot not survive much more of itself. It was fine when Christianity controlled politics. No one could deny creationism in public without being drawn and quartered, burned at the stake, or worse; forced to go to church and confess the sin of thinking.

Today, Christianity has become a regular political Tea Party that serves the interests of some of the most notorious global thieving corporations that ever polluted our planet. And in that service, they are as ignorantly loyal to Wall Street as they ever were to God. The poor, the sick, the elderly, the suffering have all taken a back seat to money and power. They elect leaders who will start multiple wars at the drop of a hat and then watch only news that will never tell them how many innocent people they were responsible for injuring, maiming, torturing and killing. And they do all of this in the name of Jesus, as if daring God to do anything about it.

Fortunately, for the Tea Party leadership and the global predator corporations they serve, there are abundant numbers of uneducated, mean spirited paranoids who are terrorized by the world as it is and ripe for the protection their leaders say God will provide them, if they just suspend all thought and go along with whatever their leaders tell them. If the Tea Party Christian leaders tell them Jesus saddled up a T-Rex and rode it to Jerusalem, they will believe it without question. And that is exactly the kind if ignorant, fear-based loyalty the Tea Party needs too keep spreading its evil to America and the world.

Jesus said that is exactly what His followers would eventually do; betray everything He taught and try to make a false God out of Him.

April 10, 2011 at 10:03 am |

dhbtoo

I'm not convinced.

April 10, 2011 at 10:02 am |

Edwin

As far as the stated question: would Jesus have believed in evolution? I do not think so. Jesus the man was pretty much an anti-establishment radical. He would probably have dismissed evolution - not because he thought it was false, but because he cared more about people, about suffering, and about religion than about knowledge.

Then again, he might have believed, if the Pharisees had considered it to be true.

April 10, 2011 at 10:02 am |

N8

Being a Christian, i believe in evolution. Can something evolve and adapt to its surroundings-of course. You put me, a country boy, in NYC and I will learn, adapt and evolve into a city boy. Likewise, you put me, a northerner in the south and I will start speaking with an accent. Its survival of the fittest.

Now what i love about evolutionists' arguements is that they use science to prove something came from 1 common being but they never can explain where that 1 common being came from. From where did that being evolve? Who or what create that being? Sounds to me that there is a Supreme Being-a master designer-God if you will that created everything.

I did evolve from Adam and Eve. 2 human beings that were perfectly created in His image. Whether you want to put that 10,000 years ago or 10 million years ago I dont know. When I die and if I see God, I will ask Him.

April 10, 2011 at 10:01 am |

Barnacle Bill

"When I die and if I see God, I will ask Him."

You be sure to let us know know how that meeting goes.

April 10, 2011 at 10:04 am |

Sean

The human design is hardly perfect. It's just the shape we've been lately, and the shape we were when people started writing down their religions.

April 10, 2011 at 10:26 am |

c1vpmerch

What a stupid question – on so many levels.

April 10, 2011 at 10:00 am |

James p

To the author: Your position in this article is clearly an attempt to water down the argument. The evidence supporting evolution (defined as humans originating from a common ancestor) isn't any better than any other theory. In fact there are many scientists on the side of intelligent design. Unfortunately, there is a concerted effort in academia to surpress any debate on the topic. Instead, evolutionist would rather rely upon a story written by Darwin in the 1800's who didn't have the sophisticated knowledge we have today about the complex molecular machines in a cell or our bodies. Darwin didn't write a book on slow change over time. He wrote a book on the "origin" of the species. As you go back down the line in evolution, no evolutionist can explain where the first cell came from or a even a seed for that matter. How did the encoded information in DNA/rna get in the cell and how did the cell replicate without this information in place first. Dna encodes information more densely than any other know storage medium. These wonders are too obvious to dismiss to all of us coming from a primordial soup.

April 10, 2011 at 9:59 am |

Edwin

James: those who support intelligent design sometimes put forth reasonable questions. But the "theory" of intelligent design has no actual supporting evidence - unless you think disbelief in evolution = belief in intelligent design.

Evolution is not a dogma. It is not a blind devotion to Darwin's ideas. The theory of evolution has "evolved" over time - it has adjusted, changed. There is plenty of work out there CURRENTLY about pre-biotic evolution (the stuff before the first cell), and there is a lot more to do. As we learn, the theory changes. It is not fixed in gospel - it is a scientific theory, not a religion.

April 10, 2011 at 10:09 am |

Anna2

OK, smartasses, answer me. What was before the Big Bang? What "banged" and where did it come from?

If you can't answer this question, you are just as much in the dark as those who believe God created life on earth.

April 10, 2011 at 9:59 am |

Eric G.

Your lack of ability to understand verifiable evidence to support those theories does not invalidate the evidence presented. Your post only proves that you need to educate yourself. I am sure your local university could help.

April 10, 2011 at 10:06 am |

Anna2

OK, tell me. According to Einstein everything that makes sense can be told in one sentence. Try it.

April 10, 2011 at 10:08 am |

JPC

You're making a very big assumption (there's that word again), namely that time is an inexorably linear and unbounded phenomenon, in asking what was around "before" the big bang.

Answer me this question:

What's north of the north pole? According to the "round earth" theory, if I keep going north, eventually I reach the north pole. But what if I keep going north? Can I? Do I have to turn to do that, or do I keep walking in the same direction as before?

Aha, a contradiction! You can't explain that, so therefore the "round earth" theory must be bunk!

IAnd, "if you can't answer this question, you are just as much in the dark as as those who believe God created life on earth."

April 10, 2011 at 10:10 am |

Anna2

Wow, so in order to understand I'lll have to resort to contorted logic..... Makes sense LOL

April 10, 2011 at 10:12 am |

Eric G.

There was nothing "before" the big bang because space/time did not exist yet. Do you have a different hypothesis?

April 10, 2011 at 10:13 am |

Anna2

So you are saying that everything came from nothing. You make as little sense as those who say God created us.

April 10, 2011 at 10:14 am |

Eric G.

The singularity. Again, your lack of capacity to understand the theory does not invalidate the evidence that supports it. You really need to educate yourself.

April 10, 2011 at 10:21 am |

Sean

Why? It's just something 3else to figure out. There's no injection of fantasy to fill the voids in science. You can either experiment on something to prove a pattern or you can't. Right now, we can't investigate what was before the big bang because that was the beginning of what we know.

April 10, 2011 at 10:21 am |

nepawoods

A set of physical laws that allow the universe to spring from nothingness ... a set of physical laws that always existed ... is that harder to accept than a God that always existed? If God always existed, he must have waited for an eternity – forever – to create the universe. He existed for an eternity, in an empty universe, and then one day decided to create things? But the Big Bang – there is evidence for this, everywhere. We can see that the universe today is expanding.

April 10, 2011 at 10:26 am |

Edwin

Anna2: do you assume we know all the answers right now? If so, why do you ask such questions?

>What was before the big bang? There are many current theories, but few of them are testable - even theoretically - so they cannot really become established fact. One goes like this:

1) There are many bangs, and they happen all the time. According to (I believe) Dirac, empty space should occasionally produce particles and anti-particles, spontaneously. These are "bangs."

2) There is an accompanying dilation of space with this effect. Small bangs, even moderately-sized ones, would have little noticeable or measurable effect. Big ones, however, would expand rapidly enough that it would be difficult to see past one, or through it.

3) So... our big bang was probably one that occurred in a larger, previous universe which still exists. Unfortunately, light from that universe will take more or less forever to reach us - so it is, for all intents and purposes, unmeasurable.

That is ONE of the current theories. In a nutshell, the big bang happened in a universe that already existed.

Another one said the universe expands from a bang, then contracts to a bang again, repeatedly, but that one seems unlikely given the speed of universe expansion.

But my question for you is this: why do you seem so insistent? Science is about DISCOVERY, not about knowing everything. If a scientist doesn't know the answer, that is not a flaw with science - it is a strength.

April 10, 2011 at 10:32 am |

Anna2

Thanks for the explanation Edwin. At least you tried to explain and did not attack me. Still, I find these explanations as fantastic as the God theory.

Just because something expands, doesn't mean the expansion is continuous. Expansion and contraction can come in waves and we could live in times of expansion. Proof failed, sorry.

April 10, 2011 at 10:37 am |

JPC

Anna,

I think you missed the point of my post (referring to it as "contorted logic") but you eventually figured it out: time may well be a cyclic or bounded phenomenon, so it is meaningless to ask what came "before" the big bang, since there was simply no "before."

If you keep walking north, you eventually end up at the North Pole. But from there, no matter which way you walk (including in a straight line from where you came in) you will go south. If you keep walking south, eventually you go so far that you end up at the North Pole again. And from there, any way you go, whether or not you turn or change direction, is south.

So there's no contradiction, and indeed when you're dealing with something cyclic, it's meaningless to ask what's "beyond" the end (or the beginning).

One of the possibilities the big bang allows is for a cyclic universe which undergoes periods of expansion and contraction. However, this possibility (at least in terms of spatial expansion and contraction) has been effectively ruled out by the latest observations, which show that there is not nearly enough mass in the universe to reverse its expansion, so it will in fact expand forever.

But that's just space; time is a whole other story. There are several models floating around now which purport to avert the "singularity" at the big bang, allowing for other things to happen "before" it, but even if there was a singularity which started everything, time may be included in that "everything" so that there was no such thing as time "before" the big bang, and therefore it makes no sense to talk about what happened "before" since there was no time to speak of.

(PS: I find it curious that you take offence in others "attacking" you, when your original post set the tone by beginning with "OK, smartasses.")

April 10, 2011 at 10:53 am |

dannylambert

Did God create a baby Adam and watch him evolve or a mature Adam ? God could have created a mature earth. Let me know when Mr. Giberson rises from the dead and is viewed by hundreds of witnesses, then i will consider his version.......

April 10, 2011 at 9:57 am |

Huff

Hundreds of witnesses? Not a single one of them ever wrote a single word about this 'event'. There is not a single word that was written by anyone who ever met Jesus. Furthermore, not a single word was written by anyone contemporary to his time. If this 'event' was HUGE as claimed why no mention of it during his time? All is 2nd hand or far further reports written after Jesus died.

April 10, 2011 at 10:22 am |

Anonymous

I have often believed that evolution is/was designed by God. I think God designed this planet and the organisms living on it to evolve. And, yes, both have changed - Earth and it's organisms. In fact, if organisms don't adapt to a changing environment, the species will die out. Why would God want his precious creations to die out? Wouldn't He want them to have the ability to change?

The story of Genesis suggests that the Earth was created in 6 days - but 6 days, according to whom? Time, such as it is now, is an invention of humans. Therefore, it is quite possible that the "6 days" is actually millions of years.

What I don't understand is how people can look at a mountain of evidence and say that evolution has not occurred?

April 10, 2011 at 9:57 am |

c1vpmerch

. . . mountain of evidence?. . . . .

really?

really?

April 10, 2011 at 10:03 am |

christchild

I agree with you. We obviously see evolution is our everyday lives (ex: microorganisms rapidly evolving into different strains, to variation of species of animals). I believe God created us with the ability to adapt to our environments and change accordingly. it is also mentioned in Genesis 1:24 that animals produce offspring that would take after their own kind (which refers to the evolutionary tree). Atleast thats what my interpretation of it is

April 10, 2011 at 10:05 am |

Anonymous

c1, have you taken a basic course in Biology? The courses water down the evidence, but it's there. Can you explain why there are similarities between species in Africa and South America? Can you explain why there is variation among species (like the Finches on the Galapagos Islands)? Can you explain why primates have a large percentage of DNA in common? There is a mountain of evidence to explain each of these.

April 10, 2011 at 10:16 am |

Jason

I am just waiting for CNN's attack the Islam religion like it constantly attacks Christianity. Oops, I forgot CNN (or any other media outlet) doesn't mess with Muslims just like the US does't invade countries with nuclear weapons...because they may bite back and may kill you for it. CNN is run by a bunch of liberal cowards and their targets of opportunity proves it.

April 10, 2011 at 9:56 am |

Barnacle Bill

All religion is nonsense. "Attacking" one is the same as attacking all. They are all delusions.

April 10, 2011 at 9:59 am |

c1vpmerch

Right on Jason!

April 10, 2011 at 10:03 am |

Edwin

Jason: your narrow views are wrong, and you would know that if you actually read more than one article on CNN's belief blog. This blog puts forth opinions by many different sources. True, they generally discourage hate rants, but they have put forth opinions against Islam, and I distinctly recall one author's case FOR intelligent design. This blog welcomes authors with MANY different viewpoints, because differing opinions generate discussion.

In short, you condemn CNN because you actually don't know what you are talking about. Try reading BEFORE spewing.

April 10, 2011 at 10:13 am |

sasha

I find so many of these comments so terrifying. I can not believe that people who believe in creationism like kids believe in the easter bunny are allowed to vote and breed

April 10, 2011 at 9:54 am |

Eric G.

Irrational stupidity is not a crime.

April 10, 2011 at 10:01 am |

Jason

Great response Sasha! Let's have all these people sterilized so we can stop the spread of these stupid ideas. We will call ourselves "'Evolution's Little Helper" since some of these people are reproducing when the really shouldn't be. We could round them up and put them in camps also if they look different, have different ideas or don't pass minimum scores on aptiutde tests. We could put them in furnances or bury them in giant killing fields when they say things we don't like. I like it. It worked for Hitler, Phopot, Chairman Mao. They all were great supporters of evolution! Where doesn't all of your hate come fron Sasha?

April 10, 2011 at 10:07 am |

Edwin

Jason: you are so scary. Sasha did not put forth one word of hate, but you did. She did express fear - ignorant people have a lot of power to do very bad things, and they often do so - but she did not express hate or suggest the terrible things you obviously think about.

Take a deep breath, dude - not everyone who is afraid of you is plotting to kill you.

April 10, 2011 at 10:18 am |

Brad

1Co 1:18-29
(18) For the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those being lost, but to us being saved, it is the power of God.
(19) For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the perceiving ones."
(20) Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
(21) For since, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom did not know God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.
(22) For the Jews ask for a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom;
(23) but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness.
(24) But to them, the called-out ones, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
(25) Because the foolish thing of God is wiser than men, and the weak thing of God is stronger than men.
(26) For you see your calling, brothers, that not many wise men according to the flesh are called, not many mighty, not many noble.
(27) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
(28) and God has chosen the base things of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are;
(29) so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

April 10, 2011 at 10:26 am |

Think

None of us will ever find truth if we can't start by agreeing to disagree. Everyone sees his/her own truth. Hot tempers and insults cannot be part of God's plan, and if this behavior is what evolution has gotten us to, maybe we need to step back a bit and explore other options. I think most will agree that it is not as important to know where we came from as it is to know where we are going with our lives. This whole theme is nothing more than a conversation, nothing to get heated up about.

Having said this, is it possible that in this huge, old universe, another race of beings arrived at this planet and colonized it, in the same manner that the Europeans colonized the Americas? Or is it possible that another race of beings arrived and mixed their DNA with the neanderthals to form modern man (the missing link)? All fantasy aside, these options could also be possible, if you think outside the box just a little bit. Had we the technology right now, we would do the exact same thing. But of course, to say such a think makes one look like a loon. But 30 years ago, how many of us common folk would have believed in something called the Internet? Truth? There could be many truths – pick one that makes you happy and respect others beliefs.

April 10, 2011 at 9:53 am |

Barnacle Bill

"is it possible that another race of beings arrived and mixed their DNA with the neanderthals to form modern man (the missing link)?"

Yes, it is possible and even likely.

April 10, 2011 at 9:58 am |

Bob

Yeah, the aliens just happened to have the exact same number of chromosomes and been closely enough related to produce viable offspring. If you can believe this, you can believe anything.

April 10, 2011 at 10:05 am |

nepawoods

"is it possible that another race of beings arrived and mixed their DNA with the neanderthals to form modern man (the missing link)?" ... The probability is essentially zero that alien life would be similar enough to life on Earth that they could just "mix their DNA". Could aliens have done genetic engineering on Earth life forms? Yes. Is there any reason to suspect it happened? No.

April 10, 2011 at 10:17 am |

Think

For "Bob": I have not stated what I believe in. I only want to put two additional theories on the table. The Europeans' DNA matched the North Americans DNA. They didn't change chromosomes. The point made with aliens colonizing the planet some time in the past meant that our exact species could have come from some other planet. If we could go to Jupiter, for example, we would, and 10,000 years in the future, the people on Jupiter would have our DNA -no evolution, no Creationism. Its only a theory, a belief, whatever you want to call it. With the right technology, it would not be impossible.

April 10, 2011 at 10:32 am |

Think

For "nepawoods": I don't know, Nepa, but today we are trying to teach gorillas how to speak, and we talk about the parts of their brains and physiology that impede their speech; if we had the technology, wouldn't we try to alter the gorilla in whatever way to see if we could make them speek? Our scientists are curious people, that is how we progress. Who's to say we can't make it happen? If, and this is a big if, another race came, it would have to be assumed that they are more technologically advanced, and that they would be able to splice the DNA. No one can say what happened thousands of years ago, and I don't pretend to do this, but I think it is possible, only possible, again, because if WE could do it, we would.

April 10, 2011 at 10:38 am |

Think

"nepawoods": I did not answer your question entirely, I apologize. A possible reason for mixing DNA with neanderthals, and I'm just brainstorming. We make our domestic animals more productive for obvious reasons -we make them bigger, healthier, and train them to do what we want. What if the alien race needed workers here on the planet? The neanderthals fit the bill in every way except in the smarts. They could have tweaked the neanderthal's brains to make them more manageable, more intelligent; they help the new "man" learn how to talk, think, plant crops, domesticate animals, etc. Essentially to enslave them? Sounds pretty sick, but hey, we've done that in our past. This was the premise of the movie Stargate. I know, this all sounds hoaky and fantastical, but so did flying to the moon 100 years ago. It is all possible, not fact, just possible, nothing more. Would I accept this as my origin? Sure, why not? My ego wouldn't be hurt and it would not upset my spiritual beliefs. I don't care where I came from – I

April 10, 2011 at 10:47 am |

Mike Breen

There is no use arguing with fundamentalists...they are like children playing a game of "silly buggers", they simply don't accept evidence and logic...reminds me of the president of "The flat earth society" (who used to teach at St. Thomas university in Frederickton N.B....He could not be defeated in discussion because he would just refuse to acknowledge evidence and logic...I guess it would destroy their whole world view if they were to realize they are mistaken...

April 10, 2011 at 9:53 am |

Igorocash

The French paleontologist and Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin reconciled christianity and evolution in a small book published, I think, in the 1950's... but it might have been even earlier. This post and discussion is a waste of time.

April 10, 2011 at 9:53 am |

Agha Ata (USA)

One main reason of the continuity of religious beliefs is the argument that the Bible doesn't oppose Science, OR, Science has no conflict with the Bible. People who put forward such reasoning have a notion that that it would be easier to bring Christians to believe in Evolution (at this stage) because they don’t have to give up their faith entirely. Which, I think is neither effective nor honest, especially when the author also talks of TRUTH. The truth is that there is no spirit, no soul, no hell, no god, and no afterlife. (period)

April 10, 2011 at 9:53 am |

nepawoods

"The truth is that there is no spirit, no soul, no hell, no god, and no afterlife." ... The truth is you don't know any of that.

April 10, 2011 at 10:09 am |

yaweah

Sorry that you feel that way, why then continue to exist if this is meaningless. there is a God, he does love us, and heaven is on the horizon

April 10, 2011 at 10:10 am |

Brad

This is exactly the end of the road of the fusion of science and Biblical truth, atheism. The author suggests, that to believe in the "young earth creation" theory, that one must force an unintended "interpretation" on the beginning of the bible, But that is simply untrue. If you read the bible for what it is, and believe what it says, it is the evolutionist that must "interpret" his beliefs into the bible.

April 10, 2011 at 10:18 am |

Michael

Why is it so hard for evolutionists to believe that God created man in his current form and created apes, and all other life forms in their own species? People are so afraid to admit that there is a God out there who is powerful enough to create everything we see. Maybe God used evolution, maybe he didn't. But if as a Christian I am going to be spit upon for believing that God created man in his current form, why aren't evolutionists willing to admit that they don't have all the answers and that God creating man and the world is a very real possibility.

April 10, 2011 at 10:21 am |

Ricardo

1) People do not either believe or don't believe in evolution, people either accept it or not. If you want to use the word "believe" then you have to talk about Santa Claus or the tooth fairy, God (Jesus, Zeus, Shiva, the flying spaghetti monster, etc).

2) I am not sure which rhetoric is more dangerous, the one that fundamentalist christians use of the one that this author uses: "...many evidences that support the truth of evolution – that make it a “sacred fact” that Christians must embrace in the name of truth. And they should embrace this truth with enthusiasm, for this is the world that God created."

The reason why statements like these are dangerous is because they insert religious myths while seemingly embracing scientific facts (an oxymoron if you will). Science hasn't proven that there is a god but at the same time it hasn't disproved it. The difference is that scientists go to the lab and do experiments to try to find accurate explanations; creationists on the other hand, find a magic explanation and attribute it to what we don't know yet.
Yes, evolutionary biology has some holes but it is a solidly grounded scientific discipline whose principles and postulates have been proven without any doubt (btw, there are much better examples than the Vitamin C one). The main problem of creationism is that it stems (and feeds) from the holes of evolutionary biology and this is why no one with more than two neurons take it seriously. Here is a direct quote from a creationist: "Because evolutionary biology hasn't explained everything, therefore God must exist and must have created everything."
My fellow Americans (and the author of this article), please tell me that you understand why this statement is so dangerous and so wrong.

April 10, 2011 at 9:52 am |

chef dugan

Good reasoning. The statements are more than just wrong, they are stupid. Would Jesus embrace evolution? He would probably say "why not, my Dad put it into motion and it's been going great ever since".

April 10, 2011 at 10:03 am |

albert

"Because evolutionary biology hasn't explained everything, therefore God must exist and must have created everything."

But isn't that the same logic that science uses to prove God doesn't exist? "

Because religion hasn't explained everything, therefore science must exist and the Big Bang must have created everything."

April 10, 2011 at 10:13 am |

MarciaMarcia

Actually, Jesus would probably have said something more like: "Hold on, be quiet, I'm getting another message from god (er, dad). What's that you ask? Why am I the only one who hears the word of God (dad)? I don't know, but if you wait a few moments I'll be finished and then I can tell you what you're supposed to do so you don't have to think for yourself."

April 10, 2011 at 10:14 am |

Jeff

I dunno why you give the author such a hard time.
Someone can be religious and still believe in evolution.

April 10, 2011 at 10:15 am |

sonic

@albert: The difference is that evolutionary biology has explained a lot of things that were formerly attributed to divine intervention, whereas religion hasn't really explained anything (as you write). To make a claim is not the same as explaining something.

This is precisely Ricardo's point: creationists rely on what science cannot explain this is why they are always talking about the problems of evolution. Scientists on the other hand dismissed the God explanation long time ago and don't even talk about it anymore. In other words, this is a debate from the creationists perspective but scientists have already moved forward and don't even consider this a debate anymore (it has been like this for about 200 years)

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